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MCAS QUESTION OF THE DAY:
line
GRADE 5
2008, SESSION THREE, READING SELECTION #1

You might not ever find yourself in danger of hypothermia, but if you do, the information in this article
could save your life. Read the article and answer the questions that follow.


[Internet Editor's Note: The horizontal gray bars below represent page breaks in the printed document.]

HYPOTHERMIA
by Frank M. Branley



1   The letter If you ski or backpack in cold weather, you've
probably heard about hypothermia. If you haven't,
it's something you should know about. The Greek
word hypo means under, and therm means heat — so
hypothermia means underheating, cooling, or even
freezing of the body. The cooling could be fast enough
to kill a person. Outside air temperature doesn't have to
be very low. In fact, hypothermia can happen when the
temperature is 40° or 50°F, and it often does.
2       Hypothermia is the chilling of the inner core of the
body, as well as of the brain. When this happens, there
is rapid physical and mental collapse. Memory lags,
people may have trouble saying words correctly, and
they may fall down or drop things because their muscles
aren't working properly.
3       For the body to operate efficiently,1 its temperature
must remain about 98.6°F. People produce more heat
than they need, so they usually must get rid of the
excess. In hypothermia, however, the body loses more
heat than it produces. This condition often occurs
when a person gets wet, because most insulation2 (such
as clothing) does not work well when it is wet. The
water pushes out the dead air, and water is not a good
insulator. One of the deadliest accidents that can happen
to a fisherman is to be washed overboard. Fishermen
describe a 50-50-50 law of survival: When the water
is 50°F, a person has only a 50 percent chance of
surviving for 50 minutes.

 Symptoms of Hypothermia
stopline
1efficiently —properly
2insulation —material that holds heat

stopline

4        Wind also speeds up heat loss because it speeds
evaporation. Wet clothing exposed to the wind is
dangerous. The wind cools the water. At 50°F, water
is unbearably cold. If it is held against a person by
sopping clothing, heat moves rapidly from the body to
the water.
5        Whenever you're outside, keep dry. Wear rain
clothes. Also, wear wool. It's the one fiber that remains
an insulator, though not a good one, even when it is wet.
6        While you're moving — hiking or skiing, for
example — your body makes a lot more heat than it
does when you're resting. That's why some hikers don't
realize they can suffer from hypothermia. They think
they can go on and on, even though they may be wet
and cold. But this is when they should be most careful.
If they are in the woods, they should get out of the
wind, set up camp, and build a fire.
7        Otherwise, they may find that once they stop hiking,
their production of body heat may drop suddenly by
as much as 50 percent. They may start to shiver and
become unable to control the shivering. They may slip
into hypothermia; their speech will slow, they won't
remember well, and they will stumble and find they
cannot hold things. They may become exhausted and
drowsy, but they must not sleep — or they might die.
8        Those suffering from hypothermia will find it
difficult if not impossible to help themselves, but other
people can help. In more advanced hypothermia, a
person may be only semiconscious. It's important that
the victim be kept awake and somehow be given warm
fluids. . . .
9        If you are careful, you'll never suffer from
hypothermia. If you ski or backpack, take precautions:3
keep warm, keep active but do not become exhausted,
know when to quit, and keep dry. There are many
things you can do to keep toasty warm, even when the
temperature hovers around zero.
 How to Prevent Hypothermia


stopline
3precautions —safety measures


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How to Help a Hypothermia Victim



"Hypothermia" by Franklyn M. Branley, from Shivers and Goosebumps. Copyright © 1993 by Franklyn M. Branley. Reprinted by permission
of Mary Jane Day.
2008, QUESTION 29 - Grade 5  
What is the main purpose of paragraph 2 of the article?
 
 		 
English Language Arts - Reading and Literature 

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Last Updated: November 6, 2009


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